INTRODUCTION:
The health system is committed to a paradigm shift towards the active involvement of patients in their process of health, and the strong emphasis is placed in patients with chronic diseases, who are the large consumers of health services. Conversely, the current situation requires distributing the available resources and consequently a change is necessary in the performance model. Thus, encouraging population participation can be a pathway to achieve this goal, and in this sense, citizens can contribute much to their self-care.
Ensure a positive mental health is included in wholesome actions.
The hypothesis of this project is based on the possibilities of psychosocial nursing interventions in patients with chronic physical health problems, and the relationship between of Self-Care Agency and Positive Mental Health. A research structured in two phases was designed.
OBJECTIVES:
In Phase I objectives were: To describe the sociodemographic characteristics and physical health conditions in patients with chronic health problems and explore the levels of the Self-Care Agency and Positive Mental Health, and the positive correlation between the two constructs.
In Phase II the objectives were: Evaluate the effectiveness of a program of psychosocial nursing interventions to enhance the Self-Care Agency and positive mental health in adults with chronic physical health problems and identify the program's usefulness and satisfaction.
METHODS:
For Phase I sectional, descriptive, correlational study and for Phase II quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest studies were proposed, with intervention group and control group.
The sample in Phase I included 259 people with chronic health problems; Phase II included 44 people, divided between the intervention (n = 22) and control (n = 22) groups.
In Phase I was conducted a descriptive analysis of all variables. Data were analyzed with SPSS-18 statistical package, with a significant p-value of <0.05.
In Phase II, Fisher's exact test was used for comparison between categorical variables, and the Mann-Whitney U test for quantitative variables. To determine whether the intervention was significant, multivariate analysis (MANOVA) with pretest-posttest differences between the intervention group and the control group was performed.
RESULTS:
The instruments used, Appraisal of Self-Care Agency Scale (ASA) and Positive Mental Health Questionnaire (CSM +) obtained a Cronbach α of 0.73 and 0.91 respectively. Analyzing the correlation between both constructs, the correlation was highly significant and bidirectional.
The effectiveness of nursing psychosocial intervention program demonstrated a significant increase in self-care agency (ASA) and positive mental health (CSM +) (F [7,36] = 28.51, p <0 , 0001).
CONCLUSIONS:
The following conclusions were obtained:
The profile of the sample studied is that of a woman of 66-75 years, with a moderate capacity in the self-care agency and a moderate medium-high positive mental health.
There is a statistically significant two-way relationship between the constructs: self-care agency and positive mental health , so that the more efficient self-care a higher level of positive mental health.
The nursing psychosocial intervention program was effective in generating an increase in self-care agency and positive mental health in the intervention group.
The usefulness of exercises carried out and participant satisfaction were very high.